Death row inmate asks SC Supreme Court to halt execution after attorneys claim new evidence

The above shows the space in the Department of Corrections' Columbia prisons complex for executions, as seen from the witness room. The firing squad chair (left) was added following a 2021 state law that made death by firing squad an option. The electric chair is under the cover. (Provided by the S.C. Department of Corrections)

COLUMBIA — The inmate who is scheduled for execution in three weeks is asking the South Carolina Supreme Court to give him a reprieve, claiming attorneys uncovered new evidence that could overturn his sentence, according to a Friday court filing.

Freddie Owens’ execution, scheduled for Sept. 20, is set to be the state’s first in 13 years. But his attorneys say they have evidence that solicitors prosecuting his 1999 trial made a secret deal with the key witness in his case, undermining Owens’ conviction, according to Friday’s motion.

Owens was convicted of shooting and killing gas station clerk Irene Graves as part of a string of burglaries in 1997. The single mother of three was shot in the head after saying she didn’t know how to unlock the safe.

The only eyewitness to the crime was Steven Golden, one of Owens’ friends who was robbing local gas stations and restaurants with him. Surveillance footage showed two masked men in the gas station, one of whom shot Graves.

With no forensic evidence tying Owens to the crime, Golden’s testimony was the only proof offered that Owens was the shooter, Owens’ attorneys argued Friday.

Golden was charged with the crime alongside Owens. Both faced the death penalty. Golden pled guilty before the case went to trial.

While on the stand during Owens’ trial, Golden testified that his plea agreement did not take the death penalty or the possibility of life in prison off the table, according to the motion.

“‘The prosecutor told me to answer that way,'” Golden said, according to the motion.

Golden is now claiming he had an unwritten agreement with the state’s prosecutors that he would not receive either of those sentences if he testified against Owens, according to a statement he signed last week, the day before the court scheduled Owens’ execution.

SC Supreme Court will wait five weeks between death notices, sets order for executions

“‘My written plea agreement said the death penalty and life without parole were still possible outcomes and there were no specific guarantees about what my sentence would be,'” Golden said, according to the motion. “‘That wasn’t true.'”

The judge overseeing Owens’ case told the jury that Golden was credible because he was not receiving a lighter sentence and had no personal gain from testifying. If the jury had known what he now says he was promised, the judge might have given different instructions and the jury may not have believed Golden’s testimony, Owens’ attorneys argued.

Golden is scheduled for release in 2026, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Owens’ lawyers are also arguing the jury may have had an assumption of guilt against Owens because he was fitted with a stun belt during the trial. Other courts around the country have ruled that a such belts, which would have given Owens an electric shock if he misbehaved, are akin to putting a defendant in shackles. This is not allowed because it implies the person on trial is guilty when a jury should instead assume they are innocent.

Owens’ current attorneys said a juror from his 1999 trial has now told them she could see Owens wearing the belt in court and knew what it was for, according to the motion.

Owens’ case has been sentenced to death several times. The state Supreme Court twice before sent Owens’ case back to a jury for resentencing. Both times, the jury recommended again to sentence Owens to death. In 2008, the state Supreme Court agreed, finding no further problems.

SC death row inmate wants his attorney to decide how he will die

The defense attorneys are now seeking a new hearing in Greenville County, according to court records. Until then, they asked the high court to halt Owens’ execution.

After Owens was convicted of killing Graves, he also killed another inmate at the Greenville Detention Center. Owens confessed to the crime in court the next day, saying he did it because he was innocent, according to court documents.

Owens has been scheduled for execution twice before, both times in 2021. The high court halted both executions amid legal questions about how he would die.

At the time, the state did not have lethal injection available as an option. Since then, the Supreme Court has ruled it constitutional for inmates to die by electrocution or firing squad as well, and corrections officials have restocked their supply of lethal injection drugs, putting that back on the table.

Also in front of the Supreme Court is the question of whether Owens’ attorney can decide his method of death for him. Owens signed his decision-making power to his attorney before he received his notice of execution because he has a religious conviction against choosing his own method of death, believing it to be a form of suicide, according to court filings.

Owens is one of 32 men on death row. Five others have exhausted their appeals and are next up to be executed, though the state Supreme Court agreed Friday to wait at least five weeks between scheduling executions.